To improve pedestrian safety and battle the physical trauma suffered by nearly a score of people injured last year in collisions, Laguna Beach’s police department will conduct a crosswalk enforcement campaign Wednesday, Feb. 27 along the city’s 37 designated crosswalks on Coast Highway.

Too many serious accidents occur each year from motorists failing to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks, Capt. Darin Lenyi said in a statement.

In 2012, of 19 traffic collisions involving pedestrians, eight occurred within crosswalks, according to department statistics. The prior year, 12 of 18 collisions involving people on foot were within a crosswalk’s boundaries, police said. Pedestrian-involved collisions comprise a small percentage of total accidents, 551 and 654 in 2012 and 2011 respectively, the department’s annual report notes.

“Drivers, please remember if someone has entered a crosswalk in your path, yield and come to a complete stop until they have safely passed,” Lenyi cautioned in a statement. Passing a vehicle that has stopped in an adjacent lane for a pedestrian is a violation of state law, he added.

One Comment

Readers should be reminded that Pacific Coast Highway is maintained and operated by the California Transportation Department, not the city of Laguna Beach. It is operated like a freeway where motorized vehicle speeds are higher, not a residential surface street where speeds are lower and crosswalks are safer. A one-day enforcement campaign by local city police will raise driver awareness in this location but do nothing to improve the crosswalk safety record for Pacific Coast Highway. It should be obvious that crosswalks and freeways are incompatible, after all when is the last time you saw a safe crosswalk on a freeway?